Cobra Kai season 6’s final tournament is the show’s endgame, but a global karate competition is a risky way to conclude the Karate Kid legacy series.
Regardless of who wins the Sekai Taikai, Cobra Kai season 6’s final tournament is already doomed. After Cobra Kai season 5 introduced the concept of a global karate tournament, it seemed likely that Cobra Kai season 6 would be the show’s last. A global tournament means that the stakes cannot get higher, which is why Cobra Kai’s final tournament will be the series’ endgame.
So far, not much is known about how Cobra Kai’s final tournament will work. It is even unclear how Cobra Kai itself will participate, as Terry Silver has been arrested and all of the students left the dojo. Still, from a narrative standpoint, Cobra Kai season 6’s ending tournament has a difficult mission ahead of it.
Cobra Kai Season 6’s Sekai Taikai Has Several Potential Champions
Whoever wins Cobra Kai’s global tournament will likely be considered the show’s best fighter and the “winner” of the series. Cobra Kai was built on rivalries, and while each character can have a personal victory in the final season, only one of them can be the Sekai Taikai champion. Even if the Sekai Taikai has two separate categories, that still mean the final results will be “unfair” to many other characters. Almost every Cobra Kai character has a compelling reason to be crowned the Sekai Taikai champion, which is why the final tournament is already doomed in terms of character arc.
For example, neither Sam nor Robby has ever won a tournament. After five seasons of character development, Sam LaRusso is ready to become the champion. At the same time, Robby Keen’s character arc would be perfectly completed with him winning the Sekai Taikai. However, Miguel Diaz is arguably Cobra Kai’s main character, meaning that the show’s finals season could go full circle if Miguel wins the Sekai Taikai. Other examples are Demitri, who has also never won a tournament, and Tory, whose victory in the All-Valley did not really count.
Cobra Kai Season 6 Will Struggle To Satisfy Everyone
Despite starting as a Karate Kid legacy series that would revisit Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence, Cobra Kai evolved into its own thing thanks to its original characters. The young Cobra Kai characters set it apart from Karate Kid and helped the show speak to a different portion of the audience who might not even be attached to Daniel and Johnny. Characters such as Miguel, Sam, Robby, and Tory are the heroes of a new generation of viewers, and each one of them obviously has a fanbase. Rooting for your favorite Cobra Kai character is part of the show’s charm, but Cobra Kai’s final season will struggle to satisfy everyone.
Simply put, whoever wins the Sekai Taikai will be the ultimate champion of the Karate Kid universe, while all the other characters will not have the chance to win another tournament or to have a major victory. Cobra Kai is ending with season 6, which only makes the Sekai Taikai more important. That said, Cobra Kai season 6 can still give each character a satisfying conclusion, even if it does not come with a karate victory. Not everything should come down to a tournament win, which might be the entire point of Cobra Kai, after all.
